Dabur takes Marico to court over Saffola Honey packaging

A Marico spokesperson refuted the claims calling it a "frivolous attempt" by Dabur to stall the launch of Saffola Honey. [Representative image: Pixabay]

FMCG major Dabur has initiated contempt proceedings in Delhi High Court against Marico and its directors for not complying with the court order to change the packaging of its honey product, Saffola Honey.

A Marico spokesperson refuted the claims calling it a "frivolous attempt" to stall the launch of Saffola Honey.

"In the past, too, Dabur has filed baseless cases in ASCI and other forums and Marico’s stand has been vindicated in all forums," the spokesperson said, as quoted by Times of India.

She said that no order has been breached. "No undertaking has been given by Marico in the matter and the competition is falsely referring to the voluntary changes made by Marico to its Saffolla Honey packaging as an undertaking," the spokesperson added.

The case will be heard on July 14, the report said.

Dabur had last year filed a case against Marico alleging that the latter's label and packaging of honey such as its bottle shape, yellow cap, dome-shaped label and honeycomb design is an imitation of Dabur's product.

The court, in July 2020, ruled that the plaintiff will suffer losses if the injunction was not passed. It said that Marico's packaging could confuse consumers even though the brand "Saffola" is featured on the label.

In 2020, Dabur also filed a complaint against Marico before the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for claiming its Saffola Honey sample being passed through the NMR test.

Dabur claimed Marico's Saffola honey had failed the NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) test and was misleading the consumers.

The claim was refuted by Marico contending that "Saffola Honey is also compliant with each of the quality parameters mandated by FSSAI".